Dobroye utro everybody. I finally made some time to finish off the rest of the most recent Q&A session. There were some tough questions, and some familiar ones. I was impressed to see so many questions and not have any of them be about the Red Bulls stadium or John O’Brien.
Now, without further delay, here are (the rest of) your questions answered:
JOE– Hi Ives, Thanks for all your great work. Your blog is tops on my list of morning news to check.
Here’s my question: Youth Program
1) When can New York begin signing players from their youth team?
2) How far along are other teams in moving ahead with their youth programs?
3) Who’s in your top 5 youth prospects- either for New York or other teams?
How much better would the USMNT be with these players in the lineup? Just marginally better or significantly improved?
I took it as a "don’t come here thinking you’re bargain hunting" kind of statement.
AJ– Its been asked, so I won’t do it again. Just please answer the questions on how to fix the Revs. I can’t take a fourth and I don’t see another eastern team beating us before the final.
IVES– Not sure if you were talking about the SBI MLS League or the EPL League. I feel bad about having neglected the SBI MLS League down the stretch. Congratulations to Charles Nestor, whose Hub Tiger FC finished in first place in the SBI MLS Fantasy League. Roland Young’s Hudson FC finished second. I finished 12th for those of you wondering.
As for the EPL fantasy league, I’ll look to post something on that this week.
TONY IN QUAKELAND– Give us your best guess on who the Quakes will draft. Or, if you answer this after the draft, your opinion of the draft and potential additional moves.
2. Best blog/writer that covers the Galaxy (worth bookmarking)?
3. Plans for a youth/farm program. Is that a plus for hopeful expansion cities? Or basically is it all about the money.
4-2-3-1
—————–Dempsey—————–
Beasley———–Adu———–Donovan
————Edu————Bradley——–
Bornstein–Bocanegra–Onyewu–Spector
—————–Howard——————-
———–Altidore—-Dempsey———–
——————-Adu———————-
Beasley—————————–Donovan
——————Bradley———————
Pearce–Bocanegra–Onyewu—Cherundolo
——————-Howard———————
Yes, this will require Altidore and Adu to keep progressing as players, but if they do, then this team will be pretty dynamic.
And yes, I have Heath Pearce in there. He’s really impressed me and I rate him ahead of Bornstein right now. Cherundolo is a lock at right back when healthy and the center backs are set (assuming both are playing regularly wherever they may be come 2010.) If not, you can see a Jonathan Spector or maybe even Nathan Sturgis developing.
And side question: Do you think we could talk Guiesspe Rossi into playing for the US National team instead of Italy? Nothing like getting one of the best young strikers in La Liga to suit up 🙂
Any talk of MLS teams in the Libertadores?
2) Whats with MLS giving LA another break? I heard rumors of giving everyone a 2nd DP so LA could keep Landon (which I hated the idea), but to grandfather players for one more year (ie give just LA, KC and Dallas a 2nd DP slot). That doesn’t seem fair to the other teams.
Do you think Edu, is as good/better than Bradley?
Does the US midfield need Feilhaber or someone of similiar style in the middle to play offensive soccer?
Two really quick questions.
1.) According to Fulham message forums, and Wikipedia, the Parkhurst move to Fulham is a done deal.
http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/Messageboard.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=27594
What is your knowledge on this?
2.) Where do the Red Bulls stand on the coaching position? Any new developments? Last I heard Red Bull reached out to Peter Nowak and he is high on their list.
Thanks again! Erik
Thanks again.
2.) Any chance you start writing for MLSNet?
3.) What were the comments made by James Riley that put him in Nicol’s doghouse? I’ve tried to dig up some news on this, but can’t find a thing.
IVES– 1. I hadn’t heard a single peep about that, not sure where that came from. 2. No chance. 3. I hadn’t heard about Riley being in anybody’s doghouse. He just wasn’t good enough to start.
KEITH– Jack Bell’s Soccer writeup on last Sunday’s NY Times print edition mentioned that MLS is planning a tournament in Hawaii this Feb with 2 MLS teams, plus the winners of the J-League and the Australian League. Any insight on this? (The online version of Bell’s article doesn’t mention it).
ALEX– Any chance that the league will raise the number of spots on the regular roster? The number right now is just too low to field a club in more than one competition.
1.Do you see Liverpool galvinizing as a team, and becoming the force we know they can be in the EPL?
2. When do you see RBNY start some kind of external advertising again? Are we actually going to have to wait for the stadium?
——-Adu—–Jozy——
———Donovan———-
Beas—————Dempsey
——–bradley——–
———-BOCO———-
Lewis——————Dolo
——–Gooch———-
——-Howard———-
Primary subs:
Edu, Maestroeni-center mid
Convey, Mapp- midwing subs
Bornstein, Califf, Pearce-D
EJ, Ching- forwards
Hahneman- Keep
TIM– For someone who follows mainly the MLS Eastern Conference and European leagues, two questions about how Houston/San Jose has managed to win four out of the last seven MLS Cups:
1. How good are Wade Barrett, Brian Mullan, Richard Mulrooney and Craig Waibel?
Dwayne De Rosario has been a part of all four wins with six other players part of three of the four wins: Pat Onstad, Eddie Robinson, Craig Waibel, Brian Mullan, Wade Barrett and Richard Mulrooney. For these seven players, this is quite an accomplishment. While De Rosario, Onstad and Robinson are well known and sought after, Barrett, Mullan, Mulrooney and Waibel never seemed to be highly sought after players but they are obviously good enough to start and win three recent MLS Cups.
2. How does Houston manage to make key additions throughout the season? Is this luck or is Houston better equiped to recognize talent/club fit than most other MLS clubs?
Houston acquired their starting forwards for the MLS Cup Final during this season (obviously Ching would have started if available).
With Bull Riding, Bowling and Billards, I always wondered why they could never get a simple 1-hr-long soccer show.
2. How should rosters / cap be increased and/or adjusted to give MLS teams a legitimate chance to win all five major tournaments that they could theoretically participate in for a given season: MLS Cup, US Open Cup, Superliga, CONCACAF’s Champions Cup/League and Copa Sudamericana? Or are no changes needed for any MLS club to legitimately have a chance to win all five in a season?
MIKE– Ives, how can the US "fire" John Hackworth from the U-17 team only to give him a job on Bob Bradley’s staff? I can’t see how recycling the same coaches brings progress for the USMNT at any level.